Establishing heritage document “Bai Choi game of Vietnamese people”
Update: May 22, 2014
“Bai Choi - original spring game” will be built a document to submit to the UNESCO for recognizing as intangible cultural heritage of humanity from June to December.

According to a directing opinion of the Prime minister about building document of intangible cultural heritage of humanity, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism entrusted Institute of Music, Viet Nam National Music Academy is responsible for establishing the document.

Scale is carried out in 11 provinces and cities in the Central Viet Nam from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan. Binh Dinh province is estimated to build heritage document. Bai choi originated almost 400 years ago, when Dao Duy Tu, an outstanding mandarin under the reign of the Nguyen Lords (1558-1777) who later formed the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945), found unique beauty in the stilt bamboo huts peasants erected to watch their fields. He created a community game called bai choi, which spread throughout the southern Central region. The game has many features reflective of Vietnamese culture. The formation of a rectangular playing plot with wooden stands represents the tradition of respect to the elderly, while village officials are available to judge the fairness of the games.

According to Ngoc, many bai choi veteran players use old cards and tools, which are no longer produced. Drawings on each card show the region's landscapes and farming activities as well as people from the ethnic Cham and Ba Na people. Bai choi songs are based on various Vietnamese traditional tunes, including xang xe, co ban, ho Quang, and xuan nu. Each song has its own story based on classical references.

As planned, building document of the arts as intangible cultural heritage of humanity will be approved in 2016.

Cinet